EARTH CLIMATE CRISIS

BAYER PESTICIDE KEY CULPRIT IN BEE DIE-OFFS?

2012-01-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

I think we all knew eventually man-made chemicals would be at the heart of the problem. This new study shows a link to a specific widely-used pesticide that even in very low levels contributes to vastly higher bee mortality

METHANE MONSTER ON THE LOOSE

2011-12-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Global warming is about to really pick up speed ... the long-feared methane sinks are starting to release in levels that are shocking scientists, and it only stands to get worse. I knew by 2005 it was too late to slow or stop man-made warming ... now the disaster-planning should start ... when those western glacial sheets of Greenland slough off to the ocean the world will really wake up.

WARMING: SCIENCE SETTLED

2011-10-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

In a terrific irony a new study funded in part by the billionaire right-wing Koch brothers (who are behind the climate change debunking movement) has correlated almost entirely with existing data sets that show a clear warming trend. Article here

BAG IT, TAG IT, CASH IT OUT

2011-10-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

The global kleptocracy that is the international banking/trade system has made it clear that Earth is just a commodity for them to strip, squeeze, use and suck dry - and that includes its people ... any meaningful move toward real environmental protections for wildlife, oceans, the air and humanity have gone into limbo and most initiatives are stalled or going nowhere fast. The economic realignment the banksters orchestrated is partly in play to weaken and quash environmental regulations besides it main goals of equalizing labor costs globally, reducing the social welfare networks of Western democracies, and to restrict political and information freedoms. The wealthy elites who really control policy in the political arena have made it clear - we don't care if our children or any future people have a livable world.

GREAT RED SPOT

2011-09-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

You could fit Earth into it 3 times. It resides between opposing jet streams in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. It is several degrees warmer than its surroundings. It spins counter-clockwise (except for the center, which spins slowly clockwise). It has existed for at least hundreds of years. It's darker red colored center and reason for being are not fully understood. My theory: a manifestation of magnetic energy perhaps related to its magnetic "tether" to the Sun.

SOLAR CYCLE SHIFTING TO MAXIMUM PHASE

2011-09-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

119 sunspots as of today ... transition begins to Solar Maximum - with a peak around 2013

GOB-SMACKING RATE OF ICE MELT IN GREENLAND

2011-09-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

2nd giant ice island due to melt away much quicker than scientists expected (link has pics and video) - here

MONITORING ANTARCTIC ICE MOVEMENTS

2011-08-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

New Antarctic Ice Animation

THE MANY WAYS WE KNOW HUMANS ARE CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING

2011-08-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

source

HOT WORLD FOR YOUR CHILDREN

2011-07-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

If you have kids 10 or younger you should take them to all the cool and green places that you can before they reach adulthood so they'll have childhood memories to share with their children about a once green/blue world with abundant wildlife. As global warming continues its runaway momentum and the world sees more species die-offs, more severe weather, and overall temperature rise ... the ice will melt, the green places will decrease, deserts will expand, and it will be a more hostile climate in which people live.

TAKING OUR POLLUTION AND WAR TO EARTH ORBIT

2011-06-30T19:22:00.001-07:00

Atmospheric flare from a minuteman III ICBM missile from Kanoa on Vimeo.

OCEANS IN SEVERE DECLINE - NEW REPORT

2011-06-20T12:46:00.001-07:00

The latest scientific panel to weigh in says the Earth's oceans are in a state of decline far worse than current models predicted, and the pace is much faster than expected. Species die-offs, pollution and methane release are the key dangers for ocean life and for humans.

Part of the solution is simple: vast tracts of ocean must be put off-limits to all fishing activities for extended periods (1-5 years) and this must be enforced by joint military efforts (or an internationa environmental militia must be assembled to do it). Article here

SONG OF THE SUN

2011-06-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

What is the sun singing? All that heat and light and it turns out that sound seems to be the key to understanding the sun. The current solar sunspot cycle seems out-of-whack somehow, baffling scientists. The normal pattern would have the sun continuing to intensify its sunspot cycle to greater density and intensity until around 2013 and then cycle down to a low number and low activity by 2020. But the sound waves that course through the Sun are singing a different tune - they tell scientists that the Sun may actually be peaking early this sunspot cycle and that the spots may come to an abrupt end - for possibly quite a while. Article here

AH HUMANS, DISASTER-REACTIVE

2011-05-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Now that Japan has suffered probably the worst nuclear disaster in history (I'll bet we'll find out ultimately it released as much radiation as Chernobyl) their government has made the wise choice to abandon nuclear power in favor of green renewable energy - article here

ANOTHER PREDICTION

2011-04-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

In my 8-5-10 post I noted that sunspot activity shifted and hence warming was kicking into gear as of that day, and I was right. We've gone from 70% spotless days to 17% spotless days to <1% spotless days. The solar sunspot cycle is due to peak in 2013 and it will be a very different world than we've known the past few years. Severe droughts will be beginning or underway in many parts of the world, heatwaves of record proportions will be afflicting major population centers, more species migration will be in evidence and don't be surprised if we've had a major ice shelf collapse in Greenland by then. Also a few very destructive hurricanes/cyclones will have likely hit and forced some environmental refugee migration. Farmers had better plan for a couple of rough years. Asshole greedmeisters who short commodities in the markets will make some money.

BIG OIL STILL DICTATING TO OBAMA - DOLPHIN DEATH COVERUP

2011-04-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

BP is still dictating to the US federal government ... thwarting scientific investigation into dolphin deaths in the wake of the BP oil spill - article here

Piers Morgan did a pretty good job going after the noxious Ken Feinberg (BP's "pay czar") ... lambasting him for being so stingy and slow paying Gulf business people and residents who saw their livelihoods destroyed - link here

HUMANS TO GRANT NATURE LEGAL RIGHTS?

2011-04-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Wonderful if it happens. Bolivia is considering legislation to grant legal rights to nature - article here Quick, get this bird a lawyer!

MORE DOLPHINS KILLED BY U.S. MILITARY

2011-03-27T12:23:00.001-07:00

Article here

I wrote about this years ago when I was a columnist for Rawstory

AURORAS TIME-LAPSE VIDEO

2011-03-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

BIOPLASTICS LOGO CONTEST TURNED INTO A JOKE

2011-03-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Only one design remaining deserves to win, that by Ian Bonilla. All the others are not very good or most appropriate for the designated use and can emboss well. Cereplast, who sponsored the contest, came up with a joke of a system to select their 200 finalists (originally 50). They set up a page where you could vote one design against another and urged entrants to get everyone they know to vote for their design. It could take hundreds of clicks before you ever saw a logo you wanted to vote for, and if you signed up and logged in your vote could count double! Of course the public wasn't really voting, it was the entrants themselves driven by self-interest to win the $25,000 at the end of the rainbow, and most were voting down their opposition, you could witness position changes of 500 to 1000 places (out of 1300) in just 20 minutes. On the blog for the contest several entrants suggested that all entries be looked at since some very good designs would likely fall below the 200 threshold (and they did). So a cutesy no dinosaurs, a tornado plastic cup, some hand-drawn spikey finger things, full-blown ads with text, pointy wine-stopper things, and the bp logo (evoke an oil-spill?) are in the running while many brilliant designs are not. Most frustrating was that the contest spelled out rules: one color, 3 designs per submission (general, recycle, compost), and the correct category number (7). Many of the finalists did not follow these rules and were not removed prior to the voting.

NATURE STRIKES BACK? BEE DIE-OFFS NOW GLOBAL

2011-03-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

New article shows bee colony die-offs are now global - article here

Nature always seeks balance - did all those poisonous chemicals (like ones that infuse every part of a plant) and gene manipulations of plants (such as those that exude their own created toxins) upset the balance? If the bees keep dying there aren't enough people to hand-pollinate the food crops we need (nor mechanical devices that could do it) - mass starvations will be the result in time. Thank you greedy transnational corporate chemical industry.

MELTING PERMAFROST MEANS HOT WORLD IS COMING

2011-02-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

The fossil fuel industry is cashing in on the destruction of our natural habitat - we could have transitioned away from fossil fuels as president Carter started in the 1970s but the oil industry made sure their guys sat in seats of power after that and are squeezing every last dollar they can out of a commodity that is destroying us. Hot World is starting. Permafrost article here

FINALLY: PHONE BOOK OPT-OUT

2011-02-01T13:17:00.000-08:00

From Gizmodo, an article on how to opt-out of those dumb phone-books

(US only, this site): www.yellowpagesoptout.com

-put in zip code
-a new page will come up showing you all the phone books you may be "eligible" for
-Register: yes, you have to register in order to get on the opt-out list
-use your backup email (the one that you get junk mail at) if you have one
-check your email to activate the account
-you'll click on a link to take you back to the site
-click on Manage My Directories
-click Opt Out of All at bottom, or individually change the totals to "0"
-click Disclaimer box on next page it shows you (letting you know you may still get one or more if it's within 6 weeks of their normally-scheduled delivery)
DONE

100% RENEWABLE ENERGY DOABLE BY 2030

2011-01-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

As I said for the many years I ran the Earth Day Energy Fast (1991 - 2007) you will not see any meaningful penetration into the market for renewables until Shell, Exxon, and the other major fossil fuel energy companies have drained down their oil (and related) products they wish to sell you and they can bring their renewables technology to market. The whole system is rigged, and governments (especially the U.S. government) are pawns and facilitators to the fossil fuel industry's profit motive. We could have moved dramatically to clean energy after Carter started the process in the 1970s, but we did not because of the greed of the fossil fuel industry. This new claim in PhysOrg that we can transition to 100% renewables by 2030 is laughable. It is not a question of if the technology is ready and can be mass-produced in short-order, it is a question of the stranglehold the fossil fuel industry holds over our global political process.

GLOBAL HUMAN HEALTH AND WEALTH

2011-01-07T14:16:00.001-08:00

ANIMAL DEATH WAVE

2011-01-06T22:42:00.000-08:00

Is it? Animal die-offs occur for various reasons all the time. The news has picked up several stories in just a few days so it seems like a wave - statistics at some point in the future will show whether this is a blip or not, or just part of the background noise of normal die-offs. The religious nuts of course take it as more signs of the Apocalypse, since they are sure hoping for that. Rational people must put up with their stupidity as we try to sort out what are signs of biological change related to human activity we can do something about and what is part of natural cycles.

ARCTIC WARMING NOW IN RUNAWAY

2010-12-16T11:38:00.000-08:00

Alarming new report on Arctic temperature rise - article here

EARTH CLIMATE NIGHTMARE BREWING

2010-12-05T11:45:00.001-08:00

This big spot is rather ominous. Portends what is to come. I called it correctly in my August 5th post.

100 YEARS TO SHIFT TO NON-FOSSIL FUELS: NONSENSE

2010-11-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

It could happen almost overnight. All we need is a crisis which cuts supply or massive campaigns undertaken by governments to mandate the shift. Market forces will only resist the shift until the mega-fossil-fuel companies can introduce their alternatives to market, locking in their profits - t h e m a r k e t s a r e r i g g e d. First and foremost, 30%-40% of the waste can be cut out ... today. UC Davis study outlining the threat here

WATER - THE WARS BEGIN SOON

2010-10-01T14:54:00.001-07:00

Human engineering has transformed the natural water reservoirs and delivery systems, and as the Earth warms due to climate change and opportunistic developers and politicians rape the last natural water resources the threat and reality of water shortages only gets worse. Map shows natural water resources above and "managed" water below (click for larger image)
- article: Billions at risk over water security here

PEAK OIL CAN DESTROY NATIONS AND ECONOMIES?

2010-09-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

A leaked German military think-tank report speculates that peak oil will happen any day now and within 10 to 15 years it could lead to the collapse of the global economy and that nations will fall. Dramatic, eh? Big Oil crushed Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election and they have been in the driver's seat ever since in terms of United States energy policy. President Carter tried to begin the transition away from dependence on fossil fuels and instead, since that time, Big Oil has squeezed consumers for outrageous profits, created fake energy crises (California 2000 anyone?), gamed the markets (Enron, et al), and sought one last big cash-in. As I used to say while director of the Earth Day Energy Fast (1991-2007) it is all about market share. When BP, Shell, Exxon-Mobil and the Big Oil Gang can bring their green energy to market, then you'll see it. As Naomi Klein points out in her book Disaster Capitalism, the public is now gamed by and responds to calculated crises.

CLIMATE CHANGE LEADS TO AMAZON COLD SNAP

2010-08-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

Climate change is not weather, which most people don't understand. Climate change leads to disruptions in normal patterns and creates extremes - both hot and cold - and this latest cold snap in Bolivia was well outside the bounds of historic norms and led to countless animal deaths - article here

OBAMA ADMIN STRANGELY SUBSERVIENT TO BP

2010-08-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

This scientist's account of how the Obama administration is bending over to BP is all too common. What does BP hold over the US gov't?

WARMING SWITCHES TO HIGH-GEAR TODAY

2010-08-05T22:40:00.001-07:00

The years-long solar minimum reduced the sun's output of energy and temporarily slowed Earth's global warming. Last year the sun had no sunspot activity (decreased solar energy output) 71% of the time, and this year the numbers reversed to 17% ... but today the sunspot number spiked up to 54 and spotless days decreased down to 16%. This is the day we transition into heightened sunspot activity, due to peak in mid-2013 if historic norms are met. By mid-2013 even the most self-interested climate-change deniers will no longer be able to sell their lies.

FINALLY, A LITTLE GOOD NEWS

2010-08-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

For the past 2 years Europe and the U.S. have created more renewable energy capacity than fossil-fuel plants - article here

HOTTEST JUNE EVER

2010-07-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

Global warming in runaway - as I called it in 2005 ... hottest June ever recorded

BP SPILL A WORLD-KILLING EVENT?

2010-07-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

We've all been wondering what the US government and BP have been hiding from us. Very disturbing - article here

ARCTIC ICE MELT SPEEDS UP

2010-07-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

article here

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

2010-06-28T00:24:00.001-07:00

Lightning strikes three of the tallest buildings in Chicago at the same time! from Craig Shimala on Vimeo.

THIS IS HOW YOU DO JOURNALISM, U.S. NEWS MEDIA

2010-06-02T01:03:00.000-07:00

The insane rogue state of israel seems hell-bent on creating more war, and war negatively impacts the environment. US journalists have been a pretty pathetic bunch ever since media companies consolidated over the past 25 years and news departments became answerable to entertainment chiefs. The mainstream media in the US is basically a joke - to wit the response to the murderous and criminal israeli attack on the humanitarian Gaza flotilla: very little coverage, heavy tilt toward official israeli talking points and spokespeople, and very little real pressure on the White House. Here is an example of how you do it (Jon Snow from Britain's Channel 4)

ICELAND VOLCANOES TO SLOW WARMING?

2010-05-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

It happened in the 90s when Pinatubo blew. Scientists are coming to a consensus that an active Icelandic volcanic chain is entering its high-activity phase and eruptions and ash clouds could last for decades. If these ash clouds rise high enough and have enough reflective sulfurous material, than can slow the runaway warming. Lucky break for us humans in terms of the timing. We already got a solar minimum the last couple of years. Hubs for air travel may shift west - Nantes, Madrid, and Bordeaux anyone?

EARTH TOO DRY FOR HUMANS IN 2300?

2010-05-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

If global warming continues its runaway this could be true ... human populations would have to move, but most would simply starve. The rich would live in caves and cooler places. Article here

TRAGIC

2010-05-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

BP / Halliburton oil spill ready to claim victims [click for large image]

HEY PENTAGON, TIME TO USE THOSE LASERS

2010-04-29T11:51:00.001-07:00

"Worse than Exxon-Valdez" is how the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill by the BP rig is being described. [click image for large size] Too big to corral, too thin to burn much of it, too light to sink ... time to target-practice with those weaponized lasers you Pentagon brainiacs - now is your time to shine (pun intended) ... if you can hit a moving missile, you can vaporize some oil in the ocean. Do it today.

OBAMA FINALLY STOPS MOUNTAIN-TOP MINING

2010-04-02T12:28:00.001-07:00

Greedy mining companies destroy whole mountain regions by simply pushing the part of the mountaintop they don't want into surrounding valleys. Outrageous just to think about, and Obama is putting regulations in place to bring an end to this reprehensible practice. Any officer/employee/shareholder of any company involved in this practice has committed crimes against nature. Article here

STOP EATING WHALES AND SHARKS

2010-03-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

Japan, Iceland, Norway, and other Asian countries drive the demand for whale meat and shark fin soup. There are plenty of other dishes to eat and it is selfish, arrogant and beyond justification to keep killing these endangered animals for specialty food dishes. Order something else from the menu, you assholes. Click the image for a larger version of a screengrab of a CBS story on which nations drive the slaughter of over 70 million sharks a year

WEATHER IS NOT CLIMATE - EL NINO ONGOING

2010-03-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

El Nino is in full swing - with global climate effects

METHANE REPORT

2010-03-05T00:52:00.000-08:00

More bad news

and the science again confirms global warming this time around is
man-made

AMERICANS PREFER CARBON TAX

2010-02-04T22:59:00.001-08:00

For once U.S. voters (or poll responders at least) get it right, they prefer a straight-up carbon tax to cap-n-trade: link here

THE PENTAGON AND CLIMATE CHANGE

2010-01-31T13:06:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, climate change isn't real, that's why The Pentagon is making it part of its long-term strategy

METHANE OVERTAKES CO2 AS A WORRY

2010-01-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

Article here

MORE DISEASE PANDEMICS

2010-01-04T23:15:00.000-08:00

Over 45 new diseases now afflict humans after jumping species from animals in the past 20+ years and it looks to get much worse as we continue our encroachment upon wild areas - loss of habitat is one component of the Earth in crisis

SUNSPOTS ARE COMING BACK

2010-01-04T11:18:00.001-08:00

The long solar minimum may be coming to a close, and with it the cooling trend. In about a year or three, when the sunspot cycle is in full swing, the climate change naysayers will hopefully shut up. See Spaceweather

THE SUPER RICH STEAL CALIFORNIA'S WATER

2009-12-28T18:46:00.000-08:00

Read all about it at: ExiledOnline

US STATES OIL PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION

2009-12-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

16 CARGO VESSELS PRODUCE AS MUCH POLLUTION AS ALL CARS

2009-11-22T21:41:00.000-08:00

This is shocking: 16 of the largest cargo vessels produce as much pollution as all the world's cars: article here

ANTARCTIC MELT WORSE THAN THOUGHT

2009-11-22T16:54:00.001-08:00

It just keeps getting worse. The latest studies show the world's largest ice sheet, in Antarctica, is now also melting faster than previous climate models predicted. Article here

GET READY FOR HOT WORLD

2009-10-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

The prolonged solar minimum is lulling the world into an even deeper complacency regarding the need for radical change required to drastically cut negative inputs into the global climate system. The politically-driven delays (caused by the lobbies of fossil-fuel industries primarily) to a real agreement on CO2 reductions has now pushed us well past the tipping point. Sea levels will rise dramatically in less than 50 years, with devastating shoreline changes coming in around 20 years. History will record our folly yet again. BBC article with the latest bad news.

Space Weather [suspots]

TOO LATE? THE 75-50-25 PLAN

2008-07-06T01:56:00.002-07:00

Nothing short of massive reductions in energy use will have the impact to slow and possibly reverse climate change now affecting the Earth in the form of runaway global warming. As former director of the Earth Day Energy Fast, I now propose the 75-50-25 Plan: Industrialized nations are asked to cut back their use of man-made energy by 75% by 2015, Emerging nations 50%, and the rest by 25%. Massive collective effort by all sectors of society - government, industry, academia, and individuals - starting now, is what is required. It may be too late, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Juneau, Alaska has made massive cutbacks - after an avalanche cut off the majority of its power supply. The rest of the world can apply this model and can do it today. It requires governments to lead in this global effort. 88% of greenhouse gases are caused by energy use and its extraction, production, transportation, refinement, etc. Energy use intersects with all human lives. Humans are disaster-reactive, and disaster is upon us now. Cutting out energy waste is free, saves money, and can be done today - right now. Al Gore's Challenge seemed to give short shrift to cutting out energy waste ("efficiency" and "conservation" to use eco code words), instead focusing on market approaches - as in transitioning consumers and the marketplace to new energy models and sources. The Earth's climate crisis is so bad that even Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens has a Plan to address the crisis, but he also favors market shifts rather than simply cutting out the waste.

NEW MISSION

2008-07-06T01:56:00.001-07:00

Earth Climate Crisis grew out of the Earth Day Energy Fast [Internet Archive listings], which I conceived and ran from 1991 to 2007. EDEF's mission was simple: take the most widely-known day to celebrate nature and use it as a mechanism to engage people to take action each Earth Day observance to create real change that benefitted nature and which could be measured (and hopefully participants would apply energy-saving techniques henceforth). Alas, the disengagement of two generations of young people (Gen-X and Gen-Y), the ossification of the US environmental leadership, the emasculation of Earth Day as a policy instrument, the intrusion of the non-profit 501-C3 money-chasing mentality, as well as simple petty feuds, prevented the campaign from becoming widely-known and being permanently integrated into Earth Day observances. Today such efforts as Earth Hour pick up where Energy Fast left off, but have even smaller goals than one day - an hour! Climate events overtook the EDEF campaign and I could not in good conscience ask people to cut back or go without man-made energy each Earth Day knowing as I do that such efforts will no longer suffice.

THE FAILURE OF EARTH DAY

2008-07-06T01:55:00.004-07:00

Earth Day appeared on the political and social scene as an outgrowth of 1960s student activism - in response to an array of environmental catastrophes, and benefitting from energized young Americans' opposed to the Vietnam War. By 1970 an official day was chosen (April 22, although some celebrate on other dates) and in its first few years the observance created momentum which led to the creation of powerful environmental law in the United States, and the observance for a while served as a focal point for a robust environmental movement. Within 10-15 years, however, people began asking why Earth Day seemed to be an entertainment-oriented concert in the park instead of focused on real political solutions and/or hands-on actions. Then came commercialization and the non-profit money-scramble and a dearth of young people from either Gen-X or Gen-Y to bring new vision, life and political relevance to Earth Day. My effort with Earth Day Energy Fast attempted to address these faults, but it didn't gain traction, regretfully. Now Earth Day is sneered at by real environmentalists as a silly PR instrument and is flatly ignored by policy-makers - it is schoolkids in animal costumes, building Earth globes or doing a token beach cleanup. The final nail in the coffin of Earth Day was pounded in by one of Earth Day's founders, Denis Hayes, when he chose actor Leonardo DiCaprio to serve as "Chairman" for the 30th Anniversary event in 2000. The commingling of entertainment and politics had by then become viewed as normal and reached its zenith yet became the nadir for Earth Day.

SPOTLESS SUN

2008-07-06T01:55:00.003-07:00

9.1.8

Is a new slowdown of the sun's dynamo going to save us from climate change and provide the Earth's people with a perfectly-timed period of cooling? August 2008 recorded zero sunspots, a scenario not seen since 1913. If the scientists referenced in this link are correct, we are entering a new solar minimum and a prolonged period of cooling. Lucky us. Maybe.

FAIR USE DISCLAIMER

2008-07-06T01:53:00.001-07:00

coming